"Collectively, our results are encouraging because they indicate that most stakeholders do attempt to hold ineffective audit committee members and the companies they serve accountable," the paper concludes.

On the other hand, there is much room for improvement. For one thing: "Policymakers may want to consider corporate governance reform that could further empower shareholders to influence board composition decisions." For another, the Sarbox provision requiring auditors to disclose audit committee ineffectiveness "does not appear to result in its intended disclosures."